Electrospinning is a fiber production method that uses electric force to draw charged threads of polymer solutions or polymer melts. The diameters of these threads are generally in the order of some hundred nanometers. When an external electrostatic field is applied to a conductive fluid, for example a spinning solution, a suspended conical droplet, which is called Taylor cone, is formed. In electrospinning, a spinning solution is pumped from the tip of a nozzle and exposed to the electrostatic field, thereby forming a Taylor cone.
Electrospinning occurs when the electrostatic field is strong enough to overcome the surface tension of the liquid. The liquid droplet then becomes unstable and a tiny jet is ejected from the surface of the droplet. The ejected jet may be absorbed by a collector as a result of the electrostatic field that is provided by a power supply between the nozzle tip and the collector and is applied to spinning solution droplets. As the tiny jet reaches the collector, an interconnected web of fine sub-micron size fibers are collected on the collector.
Electrospinning has many industrial and medical applications. For example, electrospinning is used in producing biological membranes, such as substrates for immobilized enzymes and catalyst systems. As another example, electrospinning is used in the production of wound dressing materials, artificial blood vessels, aerosol filters, and clothing membranes for protection against environmental elements and battlefield threats. Electrospinning, in comparison with other methods for producing nanofibers, can be relatively more cost effective and feasible. However, electrospinning has also been associated with some challenges, such as low production speed, lower production throughput for smaller fiber sizes, and fouling of the nozzle, that may hinder the use of the electrospinning method for the mass production of nanofibers for laboratory and industrial applications. Therefore, there is a need in the art for electrospinning methods in which nano-sized fibers are fabricated with a higher throughput rate and a lower amount of fouling.